Capitalizing on a Changing Market: Sava Insurance

By Kelly Donahue-PiroChange is a challenge for many agency owners but not for Donna Yother from Sava Insurance. In fact when you meet her one of the first things she generally tells people is that she loves change. Donna has not sat still in her 30 years in the insurance business. Located in New London, Connecticut, the agency is situated in a blue collar, coastal area that has changed dramatically over the past 20 years with two major casinos coming to the area. The change in population and coastal insurance market may have been too much for many agency owners, but not Donna. During that same time she converted the agency from non-standard to a strictly standard lines agency that only writes multi-line business, all while developing a vibrant commercial lines division.

Donna started in insurance as a receptionist when her youngest son started first grade. Being smart and having a work ethic that would crush most people, she worked her way through the ranks to Customer Service Rep and then Account Manager and finally running a satellite office for the agency. As Donna describes “I have been in every role within the agency, from answering phones and typing to now building marketing plans and negotiating carrier contracts. By knowing every position, I can make sure we are not only running efficiently but always delivering on our high performance standards. Let’s just say, not much can get by me!” As the previous agency owner was retiring, Donna worked hard and the Yother family cashed in her husband’s 401k to purchase the agency with another manager from the agency. At the time, the SBA was looking to expand their female-run small business portfolio, so Donna obtained the remaining financing through them. “There were times it was incredibly hard, I missed soccer games and events with my children. I am very blessed to have a supportive husband and family who understood that this agency was another sibling and child to us.”

Now in 2015 on an average day at Sava Insurance, you will find her husband tearing down walls for an expansion and her two daughters, Debbie Kane (VP of Personal Lines) and Diana Buschetto (VP of Commercial Lines), buzzing around the office. About a year and half ago Donna’s business partner decided to leave the insurance business and Donna purchased the shares to become the sole owner of Sava Insurance. In the summer, Diana and Debbie’s daughters also intern at the agency, learning everything from answering the phones, building commercial proposals and the ins-and-outs of social media. Donna’s work ethic has transferred right to Debbie and Diana, as many nights you will see all three ladies burning the midnight oil to serve their team breakfast the next morning or prepare proposals for the next day. Looking back, Donna’s biggest accomplishment has been sustaining organic growth year after year and daughters whom she hopes will take over the agency in the coming years.

The insurance industry is filled with challenges. When you ask Donna about the changes in the insurance industry, she simply says “You have to rise to them. The world is going to keep changing. As a small business owner, I have to be sharp and present in understanding these changes to protect my team, my agency and my clients. There is no time to be passive in today’s insurance market.” Sava Insurance meets the changing market by focusing on finding and selling to the right clients. The agency started out as a non-standard operation and today they only write standard multi-lined business. Debbie Kane, VP of Personal Lines states “It can be hard to walk away from business and hold the staff accountable to only writing our standard of business, but we have to. We aren’t designed to provide exceptional service to the rest of the market. It’s simply not acceptable in our book to provide anything but the best.” This agency has designed their brand around their market. When you walk in, there are snacks for kids, a coffee bar and an open floor plan that allows the team to efficiently communicate. They firmly believe in calling every client at renewal to review their accounts. Donna says “It can be a struggle in the summer months to call each and every client when people are enjoying their vacation time. But every month we tackle the challenge by motivating and keeping the team on track.”

Just like many agencies, Sava Insurance’s biggest challenge is around finding top talent in the industry. “Recruiting is our new full time job,” says Diana. “We have to be relentlessly recruiting to find the best people.” One area in which Donna would like to see more assistance from carriers and associations is around hiring and recruiting. The entire agency would like to see more resources, marketing and education around starting careers in the insurance business. In order for the independent channel to thrive, new talent needs to see insurance as a long term career. In ten years, Donna plans to be retired (although no one thinks she will ever fully not be a presence in the agency) and she wonders “How will my daughters keep growing our team and find fresh talent without more support from our industry partners?”

Donna will be quick to correct you if you say the word customer. At Sava Insurance they only have clients. “Clients indicate a long term trusted relationship. When you are a customer, you are a transaction. We don’t transact here; we protect people’s biggest assets. I never feel that can be summed up in a transaction.” By being coastal, the agency has unique challenges with flood zones. Because of their knowledge of the coastal region, Sava’s clients come to them because they are simply the best in this region and they know that when a hurricane or flood hits, their insurance is done right. The Connecticut coastline has had its fair share of inclement weather. The entire team at Sava Insurance knows how this impacts the community. As they like to say, they work, live, play and volunteer right here next to you in your community. We are your neighbors who happen to sell insurance!